Extraction of juice from sugar-cane and similar saccharine material.



0. MENGELBIER. EXTRACTION 0F JUICE FROM SUGAR CANE A D SIMILARSACCHARUQ'E MATERML. APPLICATION FILED s: 'T s. 1913.

1,141,572, Patented June 1, 1915.

osoAn mnnennernn, or nnnrna, shamans.

EXTRACTION OF JUICE FROM SUGAR-CANE SIMILAR SA CCH ARINE MATERIAL Talljwkom it may concern:

juice from sugar cane and. similar sac-. charine material. It is knownto extract the juice from sugarcane bypassing it through a nill' andthen transferring the bagasse deliveredtherefrom to a conveyer bandadapted to carry it through a chamber in which it is kneaded by a seriesof rollers and-simul- .tarieously treated with steam or hot water orboth for the purpose of softening the fiber to such an extent that it isin a condition slaitedto a more-complete extraction of juice before itenters a second mill; By such procedure, however, it.- is not possible.to openup the bagasse to such an extent that not only the juicecontained in the stems between the'nodes, but also that contained in thenodes, is extracted. Hitherto, therefore, it has been necessary toremove the nodes from the bagasse on the conveyer band before thebagasse entered the second mill, the result being that the juicecontained in the nodes was lost. Consequently the object aimedat,'na1nely the complete extraction of the juice contained in canes as awhole, was not realized.

According to the present invention the bagasse'is treated,advantageously after the second preliminary pressing operation, firstwith suflicient steam under pressure to heat the bagasse to a hightemperature, and then with a highly heated liquid in such quantity thatthis liquid, in conjunction with the water resulting from condensationof the aforesaid steam, provides the amount of liquid necessary fordiluting the juice. This treatment is carried out in a chamber thatadmits of a certain excess pressure being attained, in order that thebagasse may be heated by the steam'to a high temperature.

The preheating of theliquid may be efi'ected in the same or in someother chamber..

admitted at a temperature ofabout 110 0., gives up the Whole of itslatent heat to I specification of are reana- P t t d- 1,1915, -App1ication fl1ed September aims. serinmraaet the'bagasseand thereby heats thelatter to such a degree-that the-cells of the bark and the nodes areopened up with certaintyand thus rendered accessible to the subsequentlapplied liquid the temperature towhic a i the bagasse is raised bylsteamshould exceed,

if-possible, the temperature of the subse-. quently applied liquid, ,Thehotter this diluting liquid remains duringits. action on the bagasse,the more completely will the sugar contained in the latter be ;dissolvedout, and the more certainly will the cells of the hard nodes beutilized, instead of being wasted as hitherto. The treatment with steamand with liquid successively maybe carried out in a single chamberby--first introducinfg the steam, and then, after-asuit ablejinterval oftime, the liquid, or the treatinentfinay be successive notonlyin'point-zof timebut also spaciall by conductingthe bagassecontinuously rom onetoQthe-other of two or more compartments inseries,the first or foremost being suppliedvw ith steam and the second orrearmost with-liquid.

The advantage secured bythe present invention as compared withtheinethodhitherto adopted resides in great economy of time and power,and hence of expenditure, being effected. If it were attempted'to obtainthe necessaryamount ofdiluti'ng liquid, (the weight of which isapproximately equal to that of the bagasse, exclusively by thecondensation of waste steam, the steam available would be insuiiicient,and it would be necessary to have recourse to the costly expedient ofusing fresh steam to make u the deficiency. Moreover, the time requireto effect the condensation of so large a volume of steam would be solong that the output of the plant would be-reduced. If on the other handit were attempted to obtain the heat necessary for thoroughly opening upthe cells of the bagasse exclusively from the highly heated dilutingliquid, the operation would have to be carried out to-such an extentthat the cost of subsequently 'eva crating so large a bulk of liquidwould e excessively high. If, again, steam and'water are usedsimultaneously, the temperature (namely 100 C. and more) necessary forthe proper opening up of the cells in the bark and the hard nodes is.not attained. As distinct from either of such methods of procedure, theuantity of steam used in accordance-"with' t e. presentfinventionjisonly such as is necessary to raise the temperature of the bagasse' tothat requisite for opening it up, afterv its one or more pro arytreatments, with hot liquid while hem pressed one or more times;' thequantity 0 water of condensation resulting steam treatment is only a smaadding highly heated liquid.

' In order that the invention may be clearly understood and readilycarried into-'efieet the same will now be described more fully withreference to two methods of rooedure' one method involving what maytermed intermittent operation, an the other, continuous operation. Ineach'case the sugar cane (preferably in a disintegrated condi-v tion) isfirst pressed;- if the pressing or diluting-liquid, such. as the lye orwashing mater ofthe factory, is then added. This "liquid, 'inconjunction with the water of' condensation of the steam, effects thenecessary dilution of the juice. A fresh extrusion" juice-extractingoperation is repeated, the

extruded juice is diluted between eve two successive *pressinoperations. In or einto obtain the juice om the cells not "opened up bythe foregoing operation the wocedure that forms the sub 't of thepresent-inven- ,tion is then resorted to. 5 In the case of intermittentoperatiom-the bagasse is placed in a vessel" which is hermeticallysealed, and steam (exhaust steam for example) is then introduced andallowed to act'upon the bagasse. The, highlyheated pi the juice is thenperformed.

I -In' the case of continuous operatiom-the bagasse is conducted, on'its' way between two groups of pressing rollers, through first one andthen the other of two compartments of a chamber in which a certainexcess'pressure can be maintained. In-the first compartment the bagasseundergoes steam treatment and in the second compartment the juice isdiluted. It is advantageous to provide one or more compartments in frontof and atthe rear of these two compartments because it is notpracticable to seal the two main compartments completely; in the adsc'condensed, and in the case of the foremost compartments the bagasseundergoes a preliminary heating. 7

In the accompanying drawings two constructional forms ofmultiple-compartment chambers of the kind above described areillustrated.

Figure 1 shows in longitudinal section one of these embodiments forcarrying outthis method, and Fig. 2, a similar view of a sec,- ondembodiment.

Referring first to Fig. two groups of pressing rollers and a is aeonveyer band which conducts the bagasse from one group of roliers tothe other from such' percentage.

of that required for diluting the juice,

the deficiency is made .up li subsequently The band '0 on which thebagasse 1s carrled travels between theopposing edges of the doors andpartitions The construction in 2 difiers from that of Fig. 1 in that thedoors g and partitions h are carried by the 1, a and b are group, The upr length of the band 0 passes through t e channel Shaped chamber d.Thischamber is divided into compartments by flap doors e and partitionsf carthe latter is tiivided=intofegseries of approximately steamtighteompartment seven such compartments fi to Ethology-shown in thedrawings. steamemployed enters thiehambei'fat thecompartment k, andafterpenetratilillg andlieati'ng the bagasse, partially-co, enses and.partiallyescapes into the compartments'k to'lz: andk to k'Ai In the.compartments k to'k' the steam mnkes contact with OOIdBlYbEgEiEQQwhich'it reliminarily hosts and on which it condenses. The steam reactheheated baga'sse in the compartments to ktis condensed by 1 the,diluting liquid that is introduood. into one of them, the compartment.In for ex-' ample. The diluting liquid, which is preferably preheatedto' a'high temperature, together withthe water ofcondensationof thesteam, dilute the ,juioe,ias already,lstat'ed. From the rear endof thechamber :2 the bagasse 'is delivered. to I the secondgroup of rollers.2:. 1- It will of course be understood that-in the 11 case-ofcontinuous-operation the'lchamber intended for the steam treatmentandthe I compartments of this chambercan bra-formed" in a different mannerfrom'that shown. ditional. compartments any escaping steam isi d forcarrying the novel process into practice with an existing sugar canerolling mill, in' which the interval between the several press,

mechanism a steeper inclination and con ducting the bagasse into theroller mechanism by means of a rake.

The conveyer mechanism can also be subdivided, the bagasse being firstof all carriedupward at a sharp angle and then downward through -a.steam chamber, the dilution of the juice being effected beneath thesteam chamber and the bagasse being finally conducted to the next rollermechanism on a short conveyer mechanism.

Instead of being efiec'ted between the two conveyer mechanisms, thesteam treatment and the dilution of the juice can be effected upon thefirst conveyer mechanism, for example by* employing paternoster work,the ascending length of which passes through a steam chamber, while thedilution of the juice is carried out on its descending length.

Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature ofmy saidinvention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare thatwhat I claim is:

1. Apparatus for extracting juice from sugarcane and similar saccharinematerial,

comprising a chamber divided into a plurality of approximately steamtight compartments, means whereby the bagasse re-' sulting frompreliminary pressing operations is conveyed through the chamber, and

main compartments, all the compartments being approximately steam tightand arranged inseries, substantially as and for the purposes specified.

3. Apparatus for extracting juice from sugar cane and similar saccharinematerial,

comprisin a chamber divided into a series of approximately steam tightcompartments by means of suitably spaced partitions and a conveyer bandthat conducts the bagasse through the chamber, substantially asdescribed. a

.4. Apparatus for extracting juice from saccharine plants; comprising achamber, a conveyor-band for bagasse traveling in one direction throughsaid chamber, partitions above and below said band dividing said chamberinto primary'and secondary comartments, a steam inlet and a hot liquidinlet for said primary and secondary compartments respectively, saidcompartments being approximately steam tight.

5. Apparatus for extracting juice front saccharine plants; comprising achamber, a

conveyer-band for bagasse traveling in one direction through saidchamber, partitions above and below said band dividing said chamber intoprimary and secondary com- .partments, a steam inlet and a hot liquidinlet for said primary and secondary compartments respectively, saidcompartments being approximately steam tight; said partitions beingsecured on said band so as to partake of its travel.

6. Apparatus for extracting juice from saccharine plants; comprising achamber, a conveyer band for bagasse traveling in one direction throughsaid chamber, partitions above and below said band dividing said chamberinto primary and secondary compartments, a steam inlet and. a .hotliquid inlet for said primary and secondary comartments respectively,said compartments being approximately steam tight; said partitions beingsecured on said band so as to partake of its traveland the partitions onone side of the band being mounted to have a limited oscillatorymovement in the direction of travel.

The foregoing specification signed at Berlin this 16th day of August,1913.

OSCAR MENGELBIER.

In presence of twowitnesses:

WOLDEMAR Haur'r, llannr L. WILSON.

